Users Guide

11–QLogic Teaming Services
General Network Considerations
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Layer 3 Routing and Switching
The switch that the teamed ports are connected to must not be a Layer 3 switch or
router. The ports in the team must be in the same network.
Teaming with Hubs (for Troubleshooting Purposes Only)
SLB teaming can be used with 10 and 100 hubs, but QLogic recommends using it
only for troubleshooting purposes, such as connecting a network analyzer in the
event that switch port mirroring is not an option.
Hub teaming information includes:
 Hub Usage in Teaming Network Configurations
 SLB Teams
 SLB Team Connected to a Single Hub
 Generic and Dynamic Trunking (FEC/GEC/IEEE 802.3ad)
Hub Usage in Teaming Network Configurations
Although the use of hubs in network topologies is functional in some situations, it
is important to consider the throughput ramifications when doing so. Network hubs
have a maximum of 100Mbps half-duplex link speed, which severely degrades
performance in either a gigabit or 100Mbps switched-network configuration. Hub
bandwidth is shared among all connected devices. As a result, when more
devices are connected to the hub, the bandwidth available to any single device
connected to the hub is reduced in direct proportion to the quantity of devices
connected to the hub.
QLogic does not recommend that you connect team members to hubs; only
switches should be used to connect to teamed ports. An SLB team, however, can
be connected directly to a hub for troubleshooting purposes. Other team types
can result in a loss of connectivity if specific failures occur and should not be used
with hubs.
SLB Teams
SLB teams are the only teaming type not dependent on switch configuration. The
server intermediate driver handles the load balancing and fault tolerance
mechanisms with no assistance from the switch. These elements of SLB make it
the only team type that maintains failover and fallback characteristics when team
ports are connected directly to a hub.